Shifeta takes issue with Chief Arnold The minister of environment and tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, has expressed the hope that the !Kung traditional authority and the Na‡aJaqna conservancy committee will bury the hatchet and work together for the common goal of improving the lives of their communities.Shifeta was responding to a public spat between Chief Glony Arnold of the !Kung traditional authority and members of the N‡aJaqna conservancy committee over land use in the Tsumkwe West area and about who has a say over resources.
Arnold had lashed out particularly at senior councillor Sarah Zungu, former chairperson of the conservancy committee, and claimed that the conservancy committee had no say over land allocations.
Arnold also claimed that the conservancy office did not have a right to enlist the assistance of the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) in its High Court challenge over alleged land invasions and questionable land allocations.
She also lashed out at Shifeta who had commented on steps “outsiders” ought to have taken to be legally settled in the area.
Shifeta contended that some individuals had illegally settled in the conservancy area without permission from relevant authorities such as the Otjozondjupa Communal Land Board and the Ministry of Land Reform.
These illegal settlers, he reiterated, had put up illegal structures, fences and brought their livestock into the conservation area.
Shifeta said the conservancy committee had therefore raised a legitimate concern over the illegal settlers. He said it is only after the conservancy felt that its concern was not addressed in time by the communal land board that it brought the matter to the High Court, which led to an eviction order against 22 illegal settlers.
“It should be clarified that the conservancy has indeed no powers in the allocation of land but their interest in the allocation of land is about the impact which such allocation can cause to the management and use of natural resources, in this case wildlife and plant products,” Shifeta said.
He said the ministry''s sentiments expressed previously were directed at the illegal settlers and any other person who intends to settle in the conservancy.
Shifeta added that the !Kung authority is represented on the conservancy committee and all its decisions and activities should thus be shared by the traditional authority.
He said his ministry would similarly continue to work with the two bodies in the management of wildlife and benefits.